In many applications it may desirable to connect a component to a heat sink to provide enhanced heat dissipation. This may be applicable, for example, in general lighting applications that use light emitting diodes (LEDs).
The dominating conception in the market today seems to be that LEDs “last forever”, or at least about 50 000 hours, and do not break down prematurely. Thus, most fixture designs are such that if the light source fails, the entire fixture needs to be replaced. However, just as other types of light sources, LEDs may show early failures. In addition, in some applications (e.g. shops, restaurants, bars), the refurbishment cycles are much shorter than the specified LED lifetime of 50 000 hours, whereas in other applications (e.g. outdoor, street, office, and hospital), the LED lifetime is shorter than the refurbishment cycle. Thus, an arrangement that enables easy replacement of the LED module seems desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,786 discloses a lamp holder arrangement for facilitating the replacement of an LED that comprises an LED chip mounted on a mounting substrate having electrical contacts. The lamp holder comprises lamp holder power contacts for contacting the electrical contacts on the mounting substrate of the LED lamp and supplying power to the LED chip, and a mechanism for maintaining the lamp holder power contact in electrical contact with the electrical contacts during operation and for allowing the LED lamp to be readily removed and replaced by hand when it is desired to replace the LED lamps.
However, sometimes the properties of the LED module are such that the LED module cannot contain enough heat sinking capabilities to dissipate all generated heat, and it may thus be required to connect the LED module to an external heat sink. Hence, there seem to be a need for a connector for releasably connecting a component, such as a LED module, to a heat sink, which connector provides a more reliable connection in order to ensure proper thermal transfer between the component and the heat sink.